From left to right, Steve Connor, Aurora cold case investigator, Marv Brandt, Arapahoe County cold case investigator, and Bruce Isaacson, also a Arapahoe County cold case investigator, look over a area on Picadilly Road near I-70 where murder victim Donna Wayne’s body was dumped in 1986. Andy Cross, The Denver Post

Steve Conner is a major crimes detective at the Aurora Police Department.

The discovery of a bicycle-sprocket belt buckle amidst human bones told family members of a mountain biking pioneer all they needed to know.

“We believe the remains of our brother have been found. The belt buckle was very unique. I’ve never seen another one like it,” said Fountain Hills resident Karl Rust of bones he believes are those of his brother Michael Damian Rust.

Michael Rust has been missing since 2009.

Rust revealed the belt buckle clue in a phone interview Thursday. Bones were found in Saguache County last week between Highways 17 and 285.

Rust said the bones were found on Jan. 8 only five miles east of his brother’s home.

“You could see this place from Mike’s house,” he said.

The belt buckle was a prized possession for the man who was inducted into the Colorado Mountain Bike Hall of Fame in 1991.

“It was a special belt buckle. He wore it every day,” Rust said.

Investigators from the Saguache County Sheriff’s Department sent him a photograph of the belt buckle, he said. He said he knew immediately that it was his brother’s.

Rust said law enforcement officers will ultimately confirm the identity of the bones, but as far as he is concerned his brother is no longer lost.

“Now it’s up to the sheriff’s office to investigate what happened,” he said.

The discovery of the bones brought different emotions for family members.

The Denver District Attorney’s office has confirmed that Argentina President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has blocked the extradition of a murder suspect living in Buenos Aires who is charged with the murder of his wife.

Lynn Kimbrough, spokeswoman for District Attorney Mitch Morrissey, said this week that the office received confirmation from the U.S. Department of Justice that Kirchner denied the extradition of Kurt Sonnenfeld, who is charged with killing his wife, Nancy.

“We are extremely disappointed in the final decision by Argentina to not allow the extradition of Kurt Sonnenfeld,” Kimbrough said in a statement. “However, our disappointment is second to our concern and sympathy for Nancy Sonnenfeld’s family and friends. They suffered a great loss when Nancy was murdered, and now suffer another great loss in not being able to see the pursuit of justice on her behalf.”

In rejecting Sonnenfeld’s extradition, Argentina cited human rights as the reason. It also says that extradition could put Argentina in a position of violating an international principle of not forcing the return of asylum seekers to countries where they could be persecuted.

I tried to reach out to Nancy’s family this week but was unable to do so. I well know the turmoil they are undergoing, but I also know that they believe strongly that God will be the ultimate judge in this case.

Sonnenfeld, who is charged in the New Year’s Day 2002 murder of his first wife, is a former videographer for the Federal Emergency Management Agency. His video over the course of several weeks in September 2001 documented rescue and recovery efforts that were broadcast around the world.

At 9 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 21, 2015, CBS News’ news magazine 48 Hours will air a profile about Sonnenfeld’s case. I was interviewed by Correspondent Erin Moriarty and my comments will appear in the telecast.

Henthorn, 59, of Highlands Ranch is charged with first-degree murder in the 2012 death of his second wife, Toni Henthorn, who plunged 128 feet off a cliff.

But evidence was also introduced at his trial to suggest that Henthorn also killed his first wife, Sandra “Lynn” Henthorn, in a staged accident in 1995 beside Colorado 67 about 8.5 miles west of Sedalia.

Kirk Mitchell is a general assignment reporter at The Denver Post who focuses on criminal justice stories. He began working at the newspaper in 1998, after writing for newspapers in Mesa, Ariz., and Twin Falls, Idaho, and The Associated Press in Salt Lake City. Mitchell first started writing the Cold Case blog in Fall 2007, in part because Colorado has more than 1,400 unsolved homicides.